Humanity's heart
by Eevee Griffin
Summary: Based after Series 1 when Superman leaves the Legion.  Brainiac 5 is suffering because of the loss of Superman and the other Legionnaires can see it, but when Brainy thinks of a solution it does not work out how he planned... Please Read and Review!
1. Brainy's 'depression'

"Brainy?"

Saturn girl knocked again on the hard metal door to Brainiac 5's room and waited. After a few moments she heard a loud crash from within, and then slowly the door opened.

Brainiac 5 stepped into the light rubbing his eyes and frowning. "Yes?" he asked irritably.

"I was just coming to check you were okay" Saturn girl said, "You weren't at this morning's briefing…"

Saturn girl watched as Brainy rubbed his eyes sleepily, "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine Saturn girl, no need to worry… I am just working on something important. Would you tell the others not to disturb me?" Brainy hinted, leaning against the doorframe, his eyes starting to close.

"Did you sleep okay last night Brainy? You look a little…" her voice trailed off, "Worn out"

"I'm fine" Brainy yawned, "Just remember to tell the others"

Saturn girl nodded, "Of course, but if you need anything..." She began to approach the door.

"No!" Brainy said quickly, slipping back into the room and closing the door until it was open only a small crack, "Just leave me alone. Please."

Brainy's eyes glowed slightly as he peered out from the darkness of the room at Saturn girl. She smiled sadly as she watched him disappear into the dark room and shut the door behind him.

Once Brainy had checked the door was firmly closed, he turned back to the machine behind him.

It was a large dome-like structure, with a small circular door in the centre and a glowing control panel beside it.

Brainy walked across the dark room and stepped into the dome. Once inside he moved over to a corner where the ceiling was uncompleted and began to weld the metal sheets so that they covered the network of wires underneath.

Once he had done that, he connected a few wires and turned on the power. The lighting lit up the inside the dome with dim ghostly blue light, which rippled across the silvery metal walls like waves of a calm ocean.

Brainy smiled to himself as he paused to watch the lights dance across the walls and ceiling. He placed a hand on the cold metal and watched as the wires in his fingers reshaped themselves from the welder into a normal hand. He then exited the dome, flexing his robotic fingers and began programming controls into the device.

"You think Brainy is depressed?" Lightning Lad sniggered at Saturn girl, who sat across from him in the Legion Headquarters canteen.

"Can't you see the signs?" Saturn girl said angrily, watching Lightning Lad stuff salad into his already full mouth. "He hasn't eaten in days, he hasn't slept and he hasn't even been out of his room! Not since…"

"Superman left" Lightning Lad nodded.

Saturn girl nodded too, "He must really miss him, they were good friends"

"I was good friends with Superman and I'm still eating" Lightning Lad replied, through a mouthful of spinach leaves.

Saturn girl sighed and watched as Phantom girl came over to join them.

"Hey" she said, sitting down beside Lightning Lad, "What are you two talking about over here on your own" She raised her eyebrows.

"It's nothing like that!" Lightning Lad laughed, "Saturn girl thinks Brainy is depressed!"

"Is just he hasn't been sleeping much and I haven't seen him much all week" Saturn girl cut in hurriedly.

Phantom girl nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I haven't seen him about the place much either. What do you think the problem is?"

"He's missing Superman" Lightning Lad answered, before taking another mouthful of salad.

"I'm worried about him" Saturn girl sighed, fiddling with her own food, "He can't work for the Legion if he isn't up to it. Maybe we should give him some sick leave or some thing."

"Or maybe he just needs something to take his mind of things" Phantom girl said, a smile spreading across her face, "And I know just the mission…"


	2. The Mission

With his hand shaped like a screwdriver, Brainy finished fitting the control panel to his device. The extra buttons he had added to improve his machine were now fitted and working all that was left to do now was a test run. Brainy was just about to step inside the dome when he heard a knock at the door.

"Brainy, we need you for a mission" Came Phantom girl's voice from the door.

Brainy sighed and when over to the door. He pressed a button and opened it. "What is the problem?" he said, as Phantom girl looked him up and down and grimaced.

"What have you been doing?" she asked, eyeing his singed sleeve and oil spattered jumpsuit.

Brainy glanced at it and then looked back at Phantom girl, "What is the problem?" he repeated, ignoring her question.

She hesitated, taking one last look at his tousled hair before looking him in the face. "Some of the security footage at Safron Galtos has been hacked" she said, "We hoped you could fix it"

Brainiac 5 sighed, "I am quite busy already. It will have to wait" He started to turn back into the room when Phantom girl grabbed his arm. "Brainy this is urgent! The footage of one group of cells in particular has been taken. It's of the Fatal 5. We think someone might be trying to break them out!"

Brainy released himself form Phantom girl's grip and sighed again, "Very well then, I will meet you at the loading bay in five minutes. I have something I need to deal with first"

"What is it?" said Phantom girl, trying to peer behind Brainy.

He quickly stepped in front of the door and looked up at her. "Five minutes" he said, before disappearing into his room again.

Brainy listened until Phantom girl's footsteps faded to nothing, then began to gather up all his equipment and materials.

He collected together all the spare wires and plugs and threw them into a corner, with the spare sheets of metal, the majority of which he had used to make his machine.

Once the room was clear enough so he would not be tripping over things in the dark, Brainy turned off his machine and locked off the control panel.

The he left the room, locking it behind him.

The problem at Safron Galtos was worse than they had first thought.

The prison's main computer had been hacked and multiple files wiped form its memory.

Brainy connected with the computer and began searching and retrieving the lost files while Phantom girl paced about impatiently.

"So what were you doing earlier?" she asked conversationally, fiddling with her cape.

Brainy stiffened but kept typing, "Just building something," he replied shortly.

Phantom girl turned in interest. "What is it?"

"I cannot say yet" he said, the irritation clear in his tone.

Phantom girl got the message and went over to talk to one of the prison guards.

Once back at Legion Headquarters, Brainy went straight back to his room, only to find Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad and Saturn girl there waiting for him.

"Brainy! That big machine of yours almost blew up the building!" Lightning Lad said, pointing into Brainy's room.

The doorway had become a gaping hole and the actual room –or what was left of it- was filled with smoke and debris. Brainy's eyes shone through the smoke as he made his way over to the machine and checked the readings.

Someone had been in his room and tried to access his machine. Brainy's eyes narrowed.

"Who turned on my machine?" he said angrily, moving a large shard of metal out of his way so that he could get at the machine's wiring.

"It can't have been any of us" Lightning Lad said, "We just got here"

He started to follow Brainy into the room but the dust and smoke caught in his throat and he could not stop coughing until he was outside the room again.

"What is that machine for?" Timber Wolf asked, his inhuman eyes staring through the thick clouds of smoke at Brainy.

"It does not matter anymore," Brainy said, glaring at the burnt out wires inside the dome's casing, "It does not work"

Saturn girl called to Brainy through the smoke, "It's okay Brainy, I'm sure you can make another one. Just come out of there until the smoke clears."

Brainy dropped the sheet of metal he had been about to fix on and kicked the machine in irritation.

With Superman's help he could have the machine fixed in no time. _But with Superman I would have no need for this machine_ Brainy thought sadly, kicking the machine again.

_We all miss Superman Brainy, but we'll see him again soon. You'll see_

Brainy jumped as Saturn girl projected the message into his mind. Then he shook his head and smoothed down his hair. He could not let the rest of the Legion know how the absence of Superman was getting to him. He must just act normal for as long as necessary or until he had completed the machine and then everything would be fine. He hoped.


	3. The Superman Simulator

"So Brainy, how is the redecorating getting along?" Triplicate girl asked Brainiac 5 one morning, as he sat alone reading the daily holographic report.

He glanced up at her and nodded, "It is fine. I will be moving back in within a week"

Triplicate girl smiled and came over to him. "You seem to be a little down lately. Are you okay?" she asked, patting his shoulder.

Brainy stared back down at the report in front of him, "Yes I am functioning well"

"I meant how are you feeling. You're more than just a robot Brainy. You're a person. I'm worried about you."

Brainy looked up at her and smiled. What she had said reminded him so much of Superman. Brainy gulped down a sob and brushed his hair over his eyes. Then he abruptly stood up and left the room without another word; Triplicate girl staring bemusedly after him.

The streets of New Metropolis where oddly quiet that day. Brainy walked alone along the wide balustrade, watching the occasional spaceship zoom across the sky.

He followed the path until he reached a dead-end. He was about to turn around when he spotted the building in front of him. It was the 'Superman Museum'.

Without meaning to, Brainy approached its entrance and when inside. The main hall was filled with pictures and comic strips of the characterized Superman and in the centre was a domed case containing Superman's Super-suit.

Brainy approached it and put his hand up against the cold glass and stared sadly at it. Superman had been a good friend to Brainy. He had understood him like no one else ever had and stood by him through many hardships; but they had still stayed friends. Finally when Brainy could not hold it in any longer, he let out a loud sob and his head lolled forward onto the glass as he began to cry.

"Hey, stop fogging up the glass!" said someone from behind him.

Brainy turned to see a guard, looking irritably back at him.

Brainy hurriedly apologized and left the museum as quickly as he could, feeling considerably embarrassed. As soon as he was outside, Brainy rose into the air and flew back over the buildings of New Metropolis and back to the Legion Headquarters.

He would finish his machine and he would finish it tonight.

Brainy ignored the looks the other legionnaires gave him and his tear stained face, as he rushed back to his room.

He unlocked the door and went inside. The walls, which Colour Kid had been working on, were now pale blue but Brainy ignored this and went over to the machine in the middle of the room.

He had changed the design since last time; the Dome was now much rounder and taller and the controls much harder to locate.

Brainy typed a code into a hidden side panel and the machine instantly began to glow and emit a quiet buzzing sound. The door slid open and once inside Brainy immediately set about fixing the lighting and covering the walls with thick strong sheets of titanium.

It was now very late and the dome was almost complete. Many of the legionnaires had tried to speak to him after his dramatic entrance into the Headquarters, but he had sent them away so that he could continue with his work.

Brainy had now fitted the last cable and was just about to turn it on when he heard a loud knock at the door.

"Go away, I'm busy!" Brainy called to them angrily, not even bothering to check who it was.

"Computo override lock" said a voice. The door immediately opened and in came Saturn girl.

"That door was locked for a reason," he said as Saturn girl approached him sadly.

"Brainy I know what you're up to" she said, "And I just wanted you to know something"

"What is it now?" Brainy said impatiently, pacing about as the machine buzzed behind him.

"I just wanted you to know that you've always been a great friend and…"

"What!" Brainy said, exasperated at her hesitance.

"I… We just wanted to say that no matter what you are, you have always been a person to us and that you're more than just a machine. Its not only Superman that knows that Brainy. The whole legion knows it and you need to believe it. You mean a lot to us Brainy and we don't like to see you upset. But you don't need that machine to get over Superman. We can do that together"

Saturn Girl gave Brainy an awkward hug, which he awkwardly returned.

"Don't worry Brainy I won't tell anyone what it does," she said, smiling as they drew apart.

Suddenly a voice called out from behind them. "Is it true what I heard about Brainy making a machine to simulate Superman?" Lightning Lad said, coming into the room.

Saturn girl laughed, "So much for not saying anything"


End file.
